In the past years several civil society activities to monitor the public administration have emerged in the United States. Among projects to track legislation bills and political donations to election candidates, among other things, these initiatives could serve as inspiration for civil society in other countries as well.
In an interview posted on the website of the 15th International Anti-Corruption Conference, the director of Transparency International's Russian chapter Elena Panfilova (pictured here) discussed the changes that anti-corruption work in the country has faced in the last decade and the perspectives for further change in the future.
A new initiative to raise awaraness against corruption is being implemented in Indonesia. Anti-corruption organizations, film directors and famous actors have produced a series of four movies, entitled "Us against Corruption" (Kita Versus Korupsi), which portrays how corruption takes place in Indonesians' everyday life and how it can be curbed.
After the contested prosecution and conviction of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko last year, the handling of recent criminal cases by the police, such as the one involving the 19-year-old Oksana Makar, has given additional evidence of how enforcement institutions and the justice system in Ukraine are continuously subject to political influence.
Social media has been increasingly used as a vehicle for raising awareness about corruption and other abuses in Saudi Arabia. Platforms such as Youtube and Twitter have become a means of spreading comments and satirical videos on episodes of corruption or undue political influence, topics that have always been considered taboo in the country. This has given a new dimension to freedom of expression in a country where conventional media still faces severe restrictions.
A recent study published by the organization Poder Ciudadano, Transparency International's national chapter in Argentina, analyzes the use of government advertising as a potential source for corruption in the country.
Transparency International's national chapter in Greece has released their fifth National Survey on Corruption, conducted in November-December 2011. The results show an overall decrease in the average cost of bribes and changes in the population's perception of some corruption acts.
Yevgeny Urlashov (pictured here), considered as an anti-corruption crusader, has been elected mayor of Yaroslavl, a large city located about 250 kilometers from Moscow, with 70% of the votes last Sunday. The victory by a large margin against the incumbent mayor, from Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, was seen as an important boost for the country's opposition.
Under President Saakashvili, the Georgian government has implemented numerous reforms, including measures directed at tackling corruption. However, there is continuous evidence that the country still needs significant improvements in terms of press freedom, and that the government maintains strong influence over media reports.
A group of graffiti artists have been using their artistic skills to urge Kenyan citizens not to vote to politicians seen as corrupt in the next elections, likely to be held in the end of this year. Their murals portray members of Parliament as vultures in suits and associate these figures with embezzlement and ineffectiveness.
Recent convictions of high-level public officials, such as judge Georgeta Buliga and former prime minister Adrian Nastase, seem to show that Romania is strengthening efforts to curb corruption, in response to pressure from the European Union (EU). However, some people remain skeptical about how sustainable these efforts are and whether they will bring about long-lasting changes in the country.
Last year, Dr. Martin Konečný, a doctor at a psychological clinic close to Karlovy Vary, broke patient confidentiality to denounce one of his pacients, a former policewoman convicted for bribery, who had told him that she was negotiating a presidential pardon of her sentence in exchange for a pay-off to President Václav Klaus (pictured here). In a recent interview, he revealed that his effort to expose a corruption case has cost him his job and even led him to move to another town.
The Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance, located in Berlin, has begun a project to examine ways to motivate businesses to counter or refrain from corruption. Within the scope of this initiative, a report has been published with the results of a global survey with 223 anti-corruption experts not only from the business sector, but also from the public sector and civil society.
Citizens in Zimbabwe have taken a step to protest against poor services and corruption in the provision of electricity in their country. Representatives of several communities call on citizens to sign a petition for the eradication of corruption and improvement in power delivery services, and also invite them to demonstrate on March 24th.
Association GOLOS conducted independent long-term and short-term monitoring of federal and regional elections set for 4 December 2011. The monitoring was performed in 48 regions of Russia. GOLOS obtained information from correspondents of newspaper "Grazhdanskiy Golos" who acted as electoral observers, expert interviews with representatives of political parties, NPO leaders, members of election commissions, as well as from citizens who reported violations in the course of campaigns – both to GOLOS representatives in person and through the ‘Map of violations at elections’.
Tens of thousands of Muscovites protested on Saturday alleged electoral fraud and urged an end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rule. Demands repeated at other rallies across the country in the largest public show of discontent in post-Soviet Russia.
The results of the latest Eurobarometer survey, published by the European Commission last week, reveal that citizens continue to see corruption as a central challenge in most European countries, and in some of them corruption is even considered to be increasing.
Prominent anti-corruption activist Faustin Ndikumana (pictured here) has been arrested in Burundi after claiming that judges were being forced to pay bribes in exchange for their appointment. The reason for his arrest remains unclear, as no official charges have been pressed against him yet and no trial date has been determined.
Russian blogger and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny (pictured here) has launched a new initiative aiming at curbing fraud in the next presidential election, to take place on March 4th. The project, entitled RosVybory, seeks to recruit voluntary monitors for the precints where violations were already uncovered in the last parliamentary elections on December 4th.
The UNDP office in Slovakia has published a report exploring the use of social media to fight corruption in the former Soviet countries. The document examines existing literature on the topic and also takes a closer look at specific anti-corruption initiatives, with the aim of identifying main success factors.
Sierra Leone's government has launched an online database to increase transparency in the natural resource sector. The online repository includes information on revenue and transfers related to mining activities and on mining companies licenses. The initiative is supported by international donors and is part of the government's efforts to comply to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
The World Bank has launched a report documenting Georgia's successful efforts in fighting corruption since 2003. According to Philippe Le Houérou, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Region, Georgia's case shows how the vicious cycle of endemic corruption can be broken with the right policies.
